Author . 



H f 




Title 



£. 



L>2Z. 



Imprint. 






\wec3Lo\es 

Axv 0\^ SoVdaex. 



Copyrighted, 1885. 



NEW YORK: 

N. Y. CHEAP PUBLISHING CO.,,, / L H ^ 6 ' O^. , 
26 & 28 V«s«Y Strkkt. ' ,^j^" ?r WMH\95ii "^ 



REMINISCENCES OF GEN. GRANT. 



ANECDOTES TOLD BY OLD FRIENDS AXD 
COMRADES. 



NEW AND INTERESTING HISTORICAL FACTS WHICH SHOW HIS CHARAC- 
TER AS A MAN, AS A SOLDIER AND AS A I'UBLIC OFFICIAL HIS 

GREATNESS. 

" I formed Grant's acquaintance in 1848, and in a short time (lie 
acquaintance ripened into friendship, " said ^Ir. Jesse Seligman. 
" Tliis friendship existed up to tlic d:iy of his death, and we were 
often togetlier. I met him at Sackett's Harbor. He was a Lieu- 
l( naut then, and as I liked him I watched him with much interest. 
One day, before the resumption of specie payment, we were discus- 
sing resumption, and he said tluit all the power la the country could 
not make us resume specie payment until our exports exceeded our 
imports, and he was right. 

" The country should be eternally thankful for his veto of the In- 
flation bill. Pressure was brought t> bear upon him from every 
part of the country to induce him to sign that bill. A great deal of 
the influence came from men high in authority, and from whom 
nobody could reasonably expect anything but correct and honest 
judgment upon all matters appertaining to the affairs of state. 
Grant's opinion of the bill at first was unfavorable, and he had about 
made up his mind to veto it, when he permitted himself to be per- 
suaded by the great pressure to meditate signing it and sending it to 
Congress with a message favoring it. 

" The message Avas written, but he delayed affixing his signature 
to the bill until the evening of the day when he would be compelled 
to render bis decision either for or against it. He had been harassed 
by a multitude of cares, but at eleven o'clock that ui>:ht he sat down 
at his desk with the bill and Ihe message before him. The house 
was quiet, the uight was still, and, thrusting all other matters out of 



his mind, he devoted himself to deep and earnest thought concern- 
ing^ the bill. How long he considered the matter I do not know, 
but he finally concluded that tl.e signing of the bill would be au in- 
jury to the country. Having reached this couclu!,ion, he seized the. 
message and tore it into fragments. The ne.xt day Congress and the 
country learned that he had vetoed the bill. In speaking to me 
about the matter sometime afterward, he told me that when he saw 
the evil that might attend the passing of the bill, and how near he 
had come to favoring its passage, he exclaimed: 

" ' My God, have I served my country during all its trials of war 
to consent now to a bill wliich. after due consideration, I believe, 
will be dangerous to its credit? ' 

" He told me that at ten o'clock the next morning he called his 
Cabinet together and read to them his reasons for vetoing it, and 
that while the Cabinet was in favor of the l)ill before, every member 
of it then agreed with him. 

"A person watching Grant with his family around him could have 
no doubt as to the great love he bore his wife and children. I ven- 
ture to say that no family was more closely united, and more loyal 
and true than his. 

"After his return frcm hi-^ tour abroad he was probably the be.st 
informed man in this country. His knowledge of China and Japan 
was something wonderful. He f-eemed to take a peculiar interest in 
those countries, and made a study of them. He kept himself in- 
formed of the condition of the masses in JCngland, and took more 
interest in them than he did in the nobility. When he arrived in 
London the American Minister called upon him with a copy of the 
speech with which the Lord Mayor intended to welcome him on the 
next day. 

'■ 'Here is the speech,' said the Minister; 'you can read it and 
prepare your speech in reply to it.' 

" 'For God"s sake keep it away from me,' said Grant. 'I won't 
be able to say a word unles.'i I do it spontaneously.' He did speak 
spontaneously, and in referring to it afterward, he said it was the 
best speech he had ever made" 

Robert Bonner said of Gen. Grant: "I knew Gen. Grant for 
twenty years. Before his first election as President he seldom 
omitted to ride with me through Central Park alter Dexter. Our 
acquaintance first arose from Gen. Grant's fondness for horses. I 
considered him a good judge of horse-flesh, -too. I have in my pos- 



session a letter written to me by Gen. Grant in 1868, in which he 
predieted tliat we ■would eventually have horses in Amcriea which 
would Irot in 2:10. It is somewhat struni^e that he should have 
made the remark to me, and that I should afterward own the horse 
■wlileh accomplished tlio feat. In the same letter he spoke of his rc- 
turninsf to his IMissonii farm, whence he oflered to send me a team. 

" I knew Gen. Grant's father very well," continued Mr. Bonner, 
"lie was an able man a:id a good writer. He wrote one year the 
address of the Democratic State Committee of Ohio. Afterward he 
wroto a series of biographical sketches, which were printed in the 
New York Ledger in 1867. 

"As to Gen. Grant, lie was a very level-headed man. After his 
first cleciion he said lie felt that he was under no oljligation to poll 
ticians. The people, he said, elected him, and he stated it openly. 
But after he had been in "Washington for six months he confessed 
that he could not run the Government without consulting the party 
leaders. Yes, I consider Gen. Grant a very able man, and if you 
should look at the pictures of both his father and his mother, you 
could see where he got his strength of character." 

"Reminiscences of Gen. Grant in the war? Let me see," said 
Gen. Henry A. Barnum yesterday. " I served personally witii Gen. 
Grar.t at Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, in Kuvember, 'GJ. 
Ill t{ II you about that campaign. In the fall of '03, after Gen. 
Grant had captured Yicksburg, Gettysburgh had been won, and 
Chiekamauga had been lost, llie Eleventh and Twelfth Corps of 
the Army of th? Potomac were sent west to relieve the Army of the 
Cumberland, hemmed in at Chattanooga by the victorious Confeder- 
ate forces under Gen. Bragg. My command was in the Twelfth 
Corps. Grant had been made Lieutenant-General. The mihtary 
crisis of the year Avas at Chattanooga, Grant came, and then was 
planned the scries of operations that resulted in Hooker's poetic fight 
on Lookout Mountain, above the clouds. Sherman's de.«peratc assault 
upon Bragg's right above Chattanooga, followed the next day by 
Thomas's advance on Missionary Ridge, on Bragg's centre, which, 
with the following engagement at Ringgold, a few miles distant, 
fought by the Eleventh an 1 Twelfth Corps, sent the rebel army fly- 
ing discomfortLd and demoralized. All, from Grant to the private 
soldier, ('id their Avliole duty. But above them all was the great, 
silent Grant, to who.se genius ai:il indomitable will success was 
undoubtedly due." 



" My military recollections cf Gen. Grant are of his service in 
the Army of the Potomac,' paid Gen. ]\Iartin T. McMahon. "He 
joined thy Army of th^; Potomac just hefore the TVilderness cam- 
paign. I was then Chief of Staff of the Sixtli Army Corps, under 
Gen. Sedgwick. A day or two after Granfs arrival, Gen. ^Meade 
ordered a review of the Sixth Corps. We considered tbe Sixth 
Corps the crack corps of the army, and supposed that Gen. Meade 
ordered the review in order to make the hest possible impression 
upon Grant. When the troops v.ere in position, I was sent to guide 
the Lieutenant-Gencral and Gen. Meade to the reviewing ground 
That was the first time I ever saw Gen. Grant. He was followed ly 
ail the c rps commanders, and nearly all the staff of the army. He 
came along at a very lively pace over tho fields. We of the corps 
thought the review was a very grand success but whr.t Gen. Grant 
thought about it nobody ever found out. Every t'.vo or three days 
1 would see Grant for a minute or two. He appeared very quiet 
and almost sombre, and the campaign was not a cheerful one. I do 
not remember ever seeing him smile. The last time I saw him dur- 
ing that period was at City Point. I spent a couple of da^'s there 
with Gen. Babcock. I sat near Gen. Grant every day at table. Gen. 
Doyle, Governor-General of Nova Scotia, was Gen. Grant's guest at 
the time. I was greatly impressed with Gen. Grant's quiet manner 
at table. He talked little, but listened to every word that was said. 
I saw Gen. Grant at the battlefields of Cold Harbor and Spottsyl- 
vania. He rode out at Spott.sylvania Avith Gen. Meade and others 
about the time the last attack was made. At Cold Harbor, the most 
disastrous battle of the campaign, we lost 13,000 men. We achieved 
a decided success in the morning. Hancock captured a whole divi- 
sion, and held it until the next day, when muslietry fire on both 
.sides cut down trees fourteen inches in diameter.'' 

" Incidents are Avhat you want," said Gen. Chas. K. Graham. 

Mrs. Graham looked to the gray whiskered face of the General, 
and said: " You might tell him about the first time I was under 
fire."' 

" So I miglit,"' the General said, brightening up. "I was com- 
mander of the squadron that advanced up the James River when 
Gen. Grant's headquarters were at City Point, I got orders from 
G n. Butler one night to be in readiness next morning at nine 
o'clock with my tug, the Cliamherlain, for a j'.ttle (juiet run on th_ 
river. At the appointed hour Gens, Grant, Butler, Dent, Porter, 



and others -whom I do not now remember, got on board. As we 
neared Birmuda Hundred my guests Avere eating dinner in the 
cabin. The gunboat Pequot, Avhich was ahead of u^ was being 
fired on at short r.fige by a battery on shore. Sten:n;ng ahead, one 
or two of the shots intended for the Fcquot passed disagreeably 
near our tug. I feared tlaat our cabin, a flimsy affair, nii^ht be rid- 
dled, and possibly the boiler be penetrated. I therefore called my 
guests on deck. As they came out a colored man carrying a tray of 
dishes follow ed. He was standing on the top step when a shell went 
whizzing by a few feet above the head of Mrs Graham, who 
was with us at the time. The colored man turned Jmc^st white with 
fear, dropped his tray full of dishes, and fell backward into the 
cabin. The danger did r.ot prevent Gens. Grant and Butler from 
laughing at the darky until the tears stood in their eyes. 

" ' Thr.t shell made a very close call. If they knew you w^ere on 
board, General, I think they would try to drop their shots in a little 
closer,' I said. 

" ' Oh, no,' Gen Grant replied, laughingly. ' I incline to think 
that if they were aware you were on board they would be much more 
anxious.' 

"After that trip I saw much of Gen. Grant. In camp he was a 
man of tho simplest habits. A good horse gave him more satisfac- 
tion than any:,hing else. He was free from airs tliat his command- 
ing position at the time might have excused. But with all his kind- 
ness there was a firmness that expressed itself le^s in his features 
than about the eyes, which clearly pointed out to all, however familiar 
they may have been with him, that when he commandeel he would 
enforce the strictest obedience. As a military chieftain he was as 
unlike the heroes of the Old World as men well could be. His mind 
was slow, but when the idea w^as formed it was an idea to tie to." 

"I saw a good deal of Gen. Grant while I was Adjutant- 
General of the Fifth Army Corps," said Colonel Fred. T. Locke. 
" I was aboard Gen. Grant's own steamboat after the battle of 
Vicksburg, when tlie Congressional Committee came down from 
Washington and gave him the gold medal voted by Congress together 
with resolutions of thanks to himseif and his ollicers. He showed 
great modesty on the occasion. He wouldn't trust himself to make 
any extemporaneous reply. He took a piece of paper from his 
pocket and read that he accepte 1 the medal and thanks of Congress, 
and would take the earliest opportunity to convey them to the 



officer?? under his command. I saw him frequently on the battle- 
field, but he was ju;;t r.s unassuming there as everywhere else. I 
saw him once sitlin i; oi a mil fence, with a soldier's overcoat on, 
calmly sraoking a cijar, and listening to tlie talb-of his corp officers 
who were around him. No one would have taken him for the Com- 
mander of the armies of the United States." 

"It's a historical fact," said Gen. Edward Jardine, "that 
when Gen. Grant took charge of the Army of the Potomac he 
placed all the first two-year men, veterans, at the front. They 
made themselves conspicuous in the battle of the Wilderness, where 
Grant used all the men he had. When a large majority of Grant's 
staff were in favor of retreating he said: 

" 'I'll move on t!;e enemy in the morning.' " 

When President Johnson made his the famous tour of country, 
accompanied by his Cabinet, wliich, from an expression in one of 
the President's remarkable speeches, came to be known as " swing- 
ing around the circle," Gen. Grant was the most conspicuous figure 
of the party. He was then at the zenith of his military fame. He 
had not then been at all identified with any political party. He was 
known only as the great soldier who was everywhere hailed as the 
savior of the nation. His reception everywhere was as cordial as 
any that ever fell to the lot of man. The people seemed to worship 
him, They crowded to look at him, and fairly fought to gain the 
honor of touching his hand. They almost worshipped him. They 
pressed forward as if he had been some venerated being, a touch of 
tlic hem of whose garment would be the most valued favor. At 
that time he was known as the Sphinx. He would not speak, but 
the great crowds were none the kss eager to look upon him. They 
were even glad to cheer him ai he show(?d himself on the platform 
of the moving trains. The President and his Cabinet sank into in- 
significance beside him. Johnson and Seward and even Farragut 
w^erc overshadowed by the great General. It was this trip that set- 
tled the question of Grant's succession to the Presidencjr. No other 
candidate .:ould have stood the slighte t chance against him. It was 
only a question which jjaily should get possession of him. The Re- 
publicans won the prize, and perpetuated a power which was then 
waning, and which, but for Grant, would have long since passed 
away. 

Col. Willi. uu II. Payne, assistant engineer of the Brooklyn bridge, 



Served continuously on the staff of the Generals of tlie Army of the 
Potomac, his chief business being to prepare tlie maps of the country 
through ^vhich the army was moving. While Gen. Meade was Ids 
commander he had scvend opportututies to see much of Grant and 
study his characteristics. Col. Paine said : '• Immc.liately after 
crossing the Kapidan, the lirst movement of the Wilderness cam- 
paign under Grant, the enemy struck our extreme right and gained 
an advantage. Gen. Shaler was captured, and if the enemy had 
only known it, there was away open to advance the headquarters, 
our line being broken on the side. I reported this state of affairs 
to 3Ieade in the presence of Gtn. Grant. Some of us were much 
agitated. This is the conversation that occurred between Grant and 
Meade as I remember it : 

Meade — 'In these circumstances the throwing up of eartliworks 
would seem to Ije the best course to pursue. In this way we can 
protect the army." 

Grant— ' We will move forward in the morning.' 

Meade — ' But tlie enemy will be in our immediate^ front." 

Grant—' Then Hank them.' 

Meade — ' What tlisposilion of th(; troops must be made for that 
movement?' 

Grant — 'You are in command of this part of the army, and will 
fight better on your own plans than mine.' 

"This will illustrate one of Grant's characteristics — the manner in 
which he trusted his subordinates. He placed implicit contidence 
in them, and although he sometimes made mistakes, his judgment 
was generally excellent in the selection of those who were to .serve 
him. He was not in the habit of going into details; he gave his 
general orders in fcvv words. As to his courage ou the most trying 
occasion there could be no question. While the movement across 
Hatcher's Run was in progress, Grant rode out of the woods followed 
by his staff, and, having reached a point in advauc;!of the main line, 
and slightly in the rear of the skirmish line, he dismounted and sat 
down under a tree. He called for a map which I ha I prepared, and, 
with a lighted cigar in his mouth, he examined it i:i the coolest pos- 
sible manner. The enemy were at this time making a target of him 
and his staff at a moderate range. But Grant remained quietly 
seated for a quarter of an hour, entirely undisturbed by the bursting 
of shells in his immediate vicinity. There were several old soldiers 
there who tliought it wasthe hottest spot they had ever struck in 
their lives. When Grant remounted and rode otf. there was no haste 



8 

in his movements. Under all circumstances he liad full possession 
of his faculties and judgment. His words were f.'W. He hardly 
ever displayed any humor when i;i the army. A smile from him 
was more than a loud laugh from others. I often looked ;;t him, 
and wondered if he comprehended r.ll that was going on. I am con- 
vinced that he did, and that he hrought his best judgment. to bear 
in weighing every matter presented forhis consideration. He would 
not leave anything to doubt. He would never change his pLms 
until there was a positive demand for a change. He had implicit 
confidence in t'losc he put in charge of movements, and would sup- 
port them. There was no olTicer closely identified with him in the 
army who does not know that this reliance on subordinates some- 
limes led to evil consequences. Stolid as Grant appeared to be, I 
have no doubt that he felt as deeply about the horrors of war as 
those who were more demonstrative." 

Gen. James Jourdau of Brooklyn, was an ardent supporter of and 
and a believer in Gen. Grant. The acquaintance between them be- 
gan in September, 1834, during the operations bjforo Ivichmond. 

"It was," said Gen. Jourdan, "about 10 o'clock in t'.ie morning, 
during the battle at Chapin's Farm, that 1 recognized Gen. Grant as 
he came riding along from the right. I was then temporarily in 
command of the Second Division of the Eighteenth Corps. We had 
some conversation about the situation, and after giving mi some 
suggestions, Grant rode off to meet Gen. Stannard. The next day 
tlie enemy made a fierce assault to recapture the position it had lost, 
and Gen. Stannard, having been wounded, I assumed command of 
the division. The enemy was repulsed. The next morning Grant 
rode along the field, and remained with me about an hour. He 
seemed to have a thorough grasp of the entire situation. He was 
then a wiry, well-built, compact man of about 150 pounds, active in 
his manner, and w-ith a.ficc much bronzed with the sun. 

" 1 held the salient position on Fort Harrison opposite to Rich- 
mond, and Grant came to see me and inspect the works at least once 
a week. I never met a more quiet, unassuming and unpretentious 
man. One recognized in him at ( nee the amiable gentleman and 
the resolute General. There was no shovv about it. With him 
everything was a matter of business. He was just aa cool and calm 
amid tlie roar of artillery as he was when I saw him j-ears after- 
wards sitting on the veranda of his cottage at Long Branch. During 
his Presidential terms he had very little to say, but what he did say 



was ill .-.U)\v iiiid lirm \\t>vd ;, and llicrc could be luj mislakc al)Out 
his iiicaniu!^. I j-av,' li'.m freqiu'iitly after the close of the war, and 
noticed that he was as <;,uardrd in his utterances then as wheu lie 
was the leader of a million men. Dut lie was frank and friendly in 
hii conversation, and more iiarlicularly charming and interesting 
when he knew that his words would not Ijc repeated. He lia<l a 
wonderful memoi-y, and w'.ieii recalling scenes and incidents of tlii; 
waryo.i would thinlv h • Lid map.i and documents before him. I 
voted in the Conve:)tiou for Grant for a third term because I believed 
he was the only man who coidd be elected. I was one of the 306 
who stood 1),' him to Ihclisl. ,M the sinic liuic, 1 b' Hcvc tliat 
GraJit was persuaded to go into the movement u^^uiiitt bis own in- 
cliuatioiis, judgment and convictions." 

Lawyer Charles F. Gregg, a Grand Arm}- velera:'., tells this 
incident: 

"While ou duty at Cold Harbor I was detailed to take some 
dispatches to Grant's tent, I was then a Lieutenant, and for the 
purpose of making a favorable impression I put on my most shcwy 
uniform, with plenty of gold trappings and lace. When I saw 
Grant he was silting in his tent, in his shirt sleeves, with an old 
slouch liat on, and the rest of his clothes looking rather seedy. The 
men around him were dressed in an equally careless manner. 
When I was leaving Grant asked my name, and said : ' You must 
have got up rather early to be dressed as yo.i are this morning.' I 
saluted, and went off without making any reply. I learned a good 
lesson that mornin;^;." — Tho X. Y. S'.ai. 



STOUIKS ILLUSTIlA'llVE OF THE GREAT 
L EA I) Kirs C.IIA RA CTERISTICS. 



One of Grant's historical remarks was made at Belmont, during 
the Fort Donelson campaign, whcm he was told that he was sur- 
rounded, and simply answered: " AYell, then, we nuist cut our way 
out." 

Another of the remarks attributed to him is said to have been 
made at the battle of Shlloh. ]'>uell h:ul arrived on the field and the 
aspect of affairs struck him as requiring of a prudent general provi- 
sion for the possibilities of defeat. He asked Grant what had been 



10 

done in this direction and received this reply: " I have not despaired 
of whipping ti>em yet." When Buell urged liis point. Grant pointed 
to his transports and said: "Don't you see those boats?'' "Yes," 
was Buell's leply, " but we have more than 80,000 troops and these 
will only carry 10,000." "Well," returned Grant, " 10,000 are more 
than I intend to retreat wilh." 

Some of Grant's letters have a quaint humor. "When the Vicks- 
burg campaign was at its height, the General heard that Johnston 
was doing his best to get together an army to relieve the place. He 
wrote to Sherman: " They seem to put a great deal of faith in the 
Lord and Joe Johnston, but you must whip Johnston at least fifteen 
miles from here." 

The Rev. Dr. C. C. McCabe, recently gave this contribution to the 
war memories connected with the ex-President's name: "A short 
time ago I had an interview with Gen. Grant. The conversation 
turned vipon the war. I asked him the questiim, ' Did you take Lee's 
sword at Appomattox?' His reply was in the following language, 
almost to the letter: ' No, I did not. Lee came there wearing the 
magnificent sword which the State of Virginia gave him, evidently 
expecting that it would be preseryed in the archives of the Govern- 
ment. But I did not want him to surrender it to me. I sat down 
at once and busied myself with writing the terms of surrender. 
When I had finished them I handed them to General Lee. He read 
them and remarked : ' They certainly are very generous terms 
indeed.' He then told me that his cavakymen owned their own 
horses, and if they were deprived of them the}' could not put in their 
crops. Then I gave the order: ' Take your horses home with you, 
for you'll need them in the spring ploughing.' This is the simple 
story of the surrender, told to me in Grant's own parlor. Ctesar 
would have had that sword; Napoleon would have demanded it; 
Wellington would not have been satisfied without it; but L'. S. Grant 
was too great to take it. " 

Gen. Grant's parentage was traceable through a line of Puritan 
patriots far back to England. A Hartford gentleman having access 
to the first page of a thick little memorandum book, well preserved 
in its sheep>kin bindings in which such matters are noted, once 
copied the following entries: 

"May the 29, 1645, Mathew Grant and Susanna ware marled. 
Malhew Grant was then three and fortey yeares of age, seven monelhs 
and ryghtene dayes; borne in the j^eare 1601. October 27, Tuesdaye. 



11 

Su?;\nna Grant wast Ihcn three and fointcv yean s of ago, sevetl 
weeks and 4 dayes; borne in the yeare 1602 April the 5, Moudaye." 

This was the serond marriage of (Icn. Grant's groat-great-grand- 
father. 

In Galena, wlicn tlie war broivc out, Gen. Grant was iirincipally 
noted for saying little. The one essential requisite for a sueeessful 
storekeeper in a Western town.th:; j:ift of talking, he utterly laeked. 
lie despised the petty quarrels about local politics and seemed to 
have no theories of government to spread before his customers. 
When one of them attempted to engage him in a discussion of some 
such matter he is said to have replied : 

"I don't know anything of party polities, and I don't want to. 
There is one subject on wliieli I IVel perfectly at home. Talk to me 
of tliat and I shall be happy to hear you." What is that ?" " Tan- 
ning leather.'' 

Senator "Ben " Wade, the blulT old Ohioan, during the wrangle 
over the War Office with President Johnson, said : " I have often 
tried to find out whether Grant is for Congress or Johnson, or what 
the devil he is for, but I can never get anything out of him. As 
quick as I talk politics Grant will take horse, and he can talk horse 
by the hour." 

While the General was acting as Secretary of War iu 1SG7, an 
editor from the South-west pushed into h^s office and insisted on 
worming out an interview. Grant turned the subject. The editor 
promptly came back to it and said : " General, w'e want to run you 
for President, and I Mant to know what I can say when I return 
home." The General said peremptorily : " Say nothing, sir; I want 
nothing said." 

Gen. Grant receutlj' told the slory of liis appointment to West 
Point to an intimate friend Ills aeoount of it was substantially as 
follows : 

"My father was a good writer and sonieliiing of a politician; 
indeed, a good deal of one. He had become estranged from Con- 
gressman Thomas L. Ilamer, afterward Gen. Ilamer, who repre- 
sented our district. The cadet who represented the district died. 
My fatiier wanted me appointed, but was too higli-sjiirited to 
approach j\Ir. Hamer about the matter. In fact, they did not speak 
to each other. But it seems that Ilamer was anxious for a recon- 
ciliation, and when my mother and Mrs. IlaiTier came together, 
they talked it over, woman fasliion. Tiie result was that I was 
Hppointed. without anything being said by Mr. Ilamer to father. I 
was a small boy for my age, giving no special promise of any kind, 



12 

but Mr. Hamor always bolieved in my future, cvrn when things 
looked least promising." 

In a talk with a friend at Long Branch last year Gen. Grant said : 

" Iliad to contend as a General not only with foes in front, Imtwilh 
a combination in the army under my command, the extent and 
working of which were mysterious ar.d unfathomable. It was con- 
stantly and actively at work against me. The one thing that helped 
me through was that somehow or other 3Ir. Lincoln believed in me, 
and they could never shake that belief." 

In the summer of 1883 Gen. Grant spent some time at Deer Park, 
Maryland. A lady of ChilUcothe, Ohio, also stopping there, related 
to him her experience many years ago in going from the place where 
Gen. Grant then lived to ChilUcothe, in a wagon driven by him. 
He was only ten or eleven years old at the time. It was a long and 
difficult road. The lady was a little girl at the time, accompanying 
her father and mother. It grew dark before they reached ChilU- 
cothe, and her father became alarmed, especially as his pilot was so 
youthful. But the lad kept saying: "Now, just trust me, and I'll 
get through all right." The General listened to the story with a 
great deal of interest, and said he remembered well the eventful ride, 
which he considered one of the most important in his life, because it 
helped make responsibility a habit with him. 

One Sunday last summer, before Gen. Grant's disease was discov- 
ered, he sat on the ocean porch of his cottage at Long Branch. The 
friend who was with him happened to speak of Garfield, when the 
General, who was still suffering from the effects of his fall on the 
eve of the previous Christmas, said: 

"Do you know, as I have been obliged to sit day after day, 
awaiting the slow recovery of my injury, I have often thought of 
poor Garfield, as he iay at Elberon, looking wistfully out on the 
ocean, and waiting the certain but slow and tedious approach of 
death. In such a dying it seems to me a man must suffer all the 
torments of the damned— to know that death approaches, and to feel 
so utterly powerless and impotent in its face. Between such a lin- 
gering death and a sudden death, any honest man, prepared to meet 
his Maker, would infinitely prefer the latter." 

The General's words made only a light impression at the time, but 
were quickly remembered when his disease was developed. 

On another day last summer, while the ex-Presidcnt was riding in 
Central Park, his carriage was stopped a few minutes for some pur- 
pose. As he sat looking around him, a soldier named Brady, whom 



13 

he knew Ly siglit, a man mIio ];:u1 lost a limb at Vicksburg, but who 
is a pretty good pedestrian 0:1 a co:k leg, cair.e along. He stopped 
a moment to crcchange courtesies wilh the General and said : 

" I've only got one sound leg, General, but wlien I hear of your 
broken one, I wish I could exchi-.ngo with yon. " 

Tlio General's face lighted up as he replied pleasantly, picking up 
his crutches so th:.t Frady could see them: " AVhy, man, I'm better 
off than you; I've four legs, you see." 

Au:w story is told of Gen. Grant's remembrance of his friends 
and enemies. Shortly after ha bcce.me Prc-ident, an old army ofheer 
api)lied for an impcitant arsenal appoinlnieut al "Washington. Grant 
refused flatly to make the appointment. Jlrs. Grant, Gen. Ingalls 
and Cabinet members tried to change his mind, but without avail. 
They could not understand the reason for his firmness, and were 
obliged to give up the task. Mrs. Grant persisted in finding out his 
reason. It came out that when the General was stationed at Fort 
Vancouver, the applicant had been his commandant. There was a 
great searcity of i)Otatoes o"e sea^on. Grant conceived the idea of 
planting a b'g patch of them. He borrowed the money to buy seed 
at San Francisco from the commandant at 2 per cent, a month, 
and got an old sergeant to clear a plot of ground. He had a good 
crop, but everybody else had also planted largely, and he lost money. 
"When he resigned he still owed the principal of his debt, which was 
onerously held over him, and he borrowed the money from a sergeant 
lo pay it. It was not until after the fall of Fort Donelson that he 
was able to repaj" the latter. The sergeant had meantime had his 
feet frozen off, and been subjected to some iudignilics at the hands 
of the commandant, which so greatly embittered Grant against the 
latter, that his application for phice resulted as stated above. As 
soon as he had the power, the General made the old sergeant the com- 
manding officer at Fort Vancouver, and when it was abandoned he 
appointed him postmaster at Baker City. When the sergeant died, 
his wife and his daughter were successively appointed to the same 
office. 

A characteristic remark of Gen. Grant's was made in reply to cer- 
tain gentlemen who objected to his appointment of colored men to 
import.^.nt positions in the public service while President. He had 
just appointed E. P. Bassett, of Pennsylvania, to be 3Iinister to 
Hayti and was known to contemplate the selection of J. ^lilton 
Turner, of Missouri, as Minister to Liberia, an appointment shortly 



14 

afterward made. Some of the Republican members of Congress 
doubted the ■whdom of sending men of color to so important posts 
vvilhout previous t:ial in minor jioifions. President Grant's sole 
reuK'.rk on the subject was : " I tried the blacks under the guns of 
Petersbui J,.'' 

An incident showing the wonderful self command of the ex-Pre- 
sident is related by an eye-witness. The General was talking with 
his physiciai;s-in regard to the symptoms of his case when Col. 
Frederick Grant suddenly came into the room where they were sit- 
ting and said : "Father, the Retirement bill has been passed by 
Congress." " Are you quite sure ?" said the veteran soldier quietly, 
not a shade of excitement visible in his face. " Is there not some 
mistake V" Col. Grant assured him that the news was true. 
Mrs. Grant entering at th& moment repeated her son's statement in 
a quick, nervous way. Gen. Grant turned to his physicians 
again and resumed his conversation Avith them, not betraying by 
word or manner the deep interest which the announcement must 
have awakened in him; for it is well-known that the previous re- 
fusal of Congress to pass the Retirement bill had affected him 
deeply. Just before his £on entered, Dr. Fordyce Barker had taken 
the pulse of the invalid. A moment after Col. Grant had spoken 
he took it again and found that an acceleration of twenty beats in a 
minute h::d been the result; but only in this way could it be per- 
ceived that the welcome words so suddenly pronounced had pro- 
duced any impression upon him. 

Gen. Grant's early schooling was not extensive. An old 
weather-beaten, tumble-down hovel in which he went to school, is 
still to ba seen at Amelia, Clairmout County. He was not studious, 
but he would take a book of biographies of great men and devour 
it by the hour. He was always punctual, but, though he had rough 
native courtesy, he seldom spoke to any one. H.e usually sat on a 
stump and watched the boys play, but would always join in a snow- 
ball tight. He was extremely obstinate. He had one tight witli tlie 
schoohiiaster and won it. Some of the boy^s attempted to take 
Grant's knife from him. The schoolmaster took sides with the 
boys and ordered Grant to give it up, which he re fused to do. The 
teacher took a long hickory switch and flogged tiie boy till his arm 
ached. Grant neither begged, flinched nor surrendered, but clung 
to the knife, and the master had to give in ;-.t last and let Idm 
keep it. 



15 

now A >SIX TEEN- YEAR-OLD JJOT JrADE THE 
GENERAL OBEY JffS OWN ORDERS. 



Captiiin John K. Slcerc, now an inmate of the Soldiers' Homo, 
tolls a good story, showing how hu, when bnt sixteen years of age, 
made Gen. Grant obey his own orders. 

The occurrence took place in the early stages of the war, shortly 
after Grant had received his commission as Brigadier General, and 
was placed in command of the military district of Missouri, with 
headquarters at Cairo. Johu Steere, then a boy a little over sixteen 
years of age, enlisted and was ordered, with others, to report al 
Cairo, which they did. Five days after enlisting they were drilled 
in marching and mand'uvring witliout uniform or arms. Tliis was 
continued for a few days, when the new recruits got a uniform and 
an old Harper's Ferry musket, one of those old affairs t'lat every 
time the gun was discovered the sliooter had to go hunting for the 
hammer of his gun. 

Ilie morning after young Steere got his gun he was stationed at 
Gc:). Granfs headquarters as guard. The headquarters was located 
ca the levee fronting the Ohio Ilivcr, near tlio junction of the ^.lissis- 
.sippi River. It was in T^ovember, and the day was a cold and 
boisterous one. Steere's military experience was very limited indeed, 
and the inclement weather did not exacHj' suit him. Ills crders 
v. ere to let no one except an oTicer, or one on official business, enter 
the building. He stood at his post of diity until ch'.llcd through and 
through, when he set his musket up in one corner of the door, lean- 
ing against the sill, and himself close up against the buikling, with 
the cape of his overcoat pulled up over his ears to keep warm. 

As every person who came near the place seemed to be an officer 
he molested no one, devoting all his time and attention to keeping 
himself warm and comfortable. iMorpheus courted him, and lie was 
on the verge of taking a pleasant snooze when some one coming 
down the stairway aroused him. Looking up he saw an officer 
buckling on an elegant sword. After passing through the door the 
officer came to a hall, and, looking at the guard indignantly, asked: 

"What are you doing there V" 

"I'm the guard," replied Steere. 

"An excellent guard, indeed. Do you know whose hcadciuiirters 
this is?" 



16 

"Yes, sir; Gen. Granfs." 

Tlie ofJcer looked at the Lniard A moment in silence, and then 
thundered. 

"Stand up there, sir, and bring your gun to a shoulder!" 

Young Steere did as requested, bringing his gun to a shodder 
liko a squirrel hunter. The ofiicer took the gun from him and went 
through the manual of arms for him. He remained with him for 
fifteen or twenty minutes until he taught him how to handle his gun, 
when he asked: 

"How long have j'ou been in the service?" { 

"Several days." 

"Do you know who 1 am?" 

"No, sir; never suv you before." 

"I am Gen Grant. You have deserted your post of duty, sir, 
which i-j a very fcrious breach of discipline. I Wiil not punish you 
this time, but, young man, le very careful it does not occur again. 
Orders must be strictly and promptly obeyed always." 

Several days after this young Steere was put on guard on a steam- 
boat which was being loaded with provisions and ammunition, with 
orders to allow no one with a lighted pipe or cigar to come within 
agivcn di.stance — about t:f;y feet. He had not been at his post of 
duty more than an hou.r Avhen Gen. Grant approached Avilh a 
lighted cigar between his teeth. He seemed to be deep in thought, 
but the nio:nent ho cam;3 near the gangplank liis musings were i.:- 
terrupted. 

"Halt!"' cried the young guard, bringing hi.i gun to his shoulder. 

The General was taken completely by surprise. He looked at Ih-j 
young guard, who had him covered with his gun, amazed, and then 
his countenance .'■howed traces of arising ang-r. Lut he did not 
budge a a inch. 

"I have been taught to obey orders strictly and promptly," ex- 
plained Steere, quoting the General; "and as my orders arc to 
allow 1:0 one to approach this boat wiih a lighted cigar, you will 
please throw your's av>-ay." 

Grant smiled, threw liis cigar into the river, and crossed the 
gangplank on to the boat. — Cncinnaii Enquirer. 



17 



GRANTS DECISION OF C/LlltAOTEn. 



(Jraiit iis ;i l)()y ;iiul youiiii' niaii was like iiicsl youiiLr fi'llows, 
(liUVriiis; from tlioni in hut fuw tilings. Tlic great points in liis 
ciiaiactcr began to show at the time wlien he undertook tiie dis- 
charge of important pubUe duties. From that period he e.xhibited 
lliat decision of character which inis ever since been so conspicuous 
in his mental make uji, and which was one of his most valuable 
traits. He rarely doubted or showed any sign of hesitation about 
what course to take when action was necessary. It is not given to 
all men to see the way at important and critical moments as d-arly 
as he did, and to decide on sight as truly what was the right thing 
to do at the moment. But it is within reach of every man, who is a 
competent free agent, to avoid that "indici«ion" which is so great 
a hinderer in the conduct of ti)is world's allairs. .This weakness 
Grant never seemed to know. Having tiie (luality of decision, he 
was a man of action; a man wlio did things rather than one who 
talked about doing them. Without intending to substitute the act 
for the word, in telhug what he intended to do, still that was the 
effect of his mode^ of thought and action. He was an exemplar and 
a personification of what the word duty means. From the day he 
went into the field as an officer having charge of other men, and 
having responsibilities of his own, his first and last thought was to 
do his duty faithfully, as duly should always be done. If he was 
ordered to do a duty he obeyed promptly, to his best understanding 
and ability, without quesiioiiing the authority that had the right to 
command him, and unconiplainiiig as to any persontil disc )mfort or 
sacrifice. If the duty came to him when he was commanding 
officer he kept it steadily in view and pei'formed it in the same 
spirit. /As to all this, his career furnishes a great example. He 
was human enough to err, but making mistakes as he did, and as he 
himself frankly and sincere!}' admitted, he was man enough to con- 
fess them, and large minded enough to attempt to rectify them, and 
whenever it was within his reach to tr}' to make reparation. Com- 
monplace as this virtue seems to be it is a lofty (piality in whatever 
man possesses it. — Fhiladelphia Ledger. 



18 

GRANT AS A SCHOOLBOY. 



William Stewart, ooe of the Times- Slew's oldest compo^^itors, and 
bis wife both come from Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio, where 
they attended the same school with the boy Ulysses S. Grant. 
"He was a real nice boy, but he never had anything to say,' said 
Mrs. Stewart, "and when he did say something he always made it 
short. That was the thing I remember best about him. We went to 
school together, and I recollect that he never whispered like the 
other boys, and the teachers were never obliged to whip or correct 
him " 

" Was he a particularly bright scholar?" 

"No; he was just like the rest of us; but he was smart, and 
then, of course, his "West Point training did everything for him. 
Old Gen. Hamer, our Congressman, who lived right across the street 
from us, sent him to West Point. The General was a kind-heaned 
man, and he was a great friend of Jesse R. Grant, Ulysses's father, 
who ran a little tan yard in Georgetown. Ulysses's folks moved 
away when he was about fifteen years old and then T did not see him 
for years, but my husband saw him constantly through the Mexican 
and the civil wai'. During the late war my husband was sick and 
wanted to gel a furlough. He went to Grant direct, but the guards 
around wouldn't kt him in. He sent in his name, however, and the 
General had him admitted at once, even coming to meet him, and- 
you may be sure he got the furlough. Another time my husband 
was going to the office in the morning and a buggy drove by. He 
didn't notice who was in it, but the occupant called out, ' Hello, 
Bill.' It was Gen. Grant — he was President then — who was driving 
out to see his relatives in Clermont County. He was very pleasant 
and inquired about all his old friends. There was no pride about 
Gen. Grant. — Cincinnati TunesSiar. 



GEN. GRANT ALWAYS CARRIED MATCHES. 



In the Winter of 18S4 Gen. Grant visited Governor Cornell at 
Albany and was received by the Legislature. At the close of the 
affair in the Assembly chamber the General repaired, with other 
gentlemen, to the Speaker's room. While wrapping up for the 
drive to the Executive Mansion, Speaker Sharpe handed the General 



19 

a cig'ar, looked in his pocket for a match, but found none, and 
turned to others to tind that tlicy were no l)etter olT. Consi(h'rahly 
frustrated, he undertook to apologize, l)ut the genial oUl soldier put 
the laugh u|ion the Speaker by drawing from his pocket a match- 
box and saying: " Sliarpe, I am always armed for such a great 
emergency as this. I have been in close quarters before now, but I 
never yet found myself in the dire extremity of having a cigar and 
no match to light it with." — Albany Jonrnal. 



GEN. GRANT NOMINATES AN ENEMY. 



To a reporter of the Washington Star, Gen. E. T. Beale said not 
long ago : 

"I saw Gen. Grant once while at a white beat of vexation, in the 
Library of the White House, put personal prejudices and wishes 
aside, and do his duty without question. He had been abused and 
slandered by a certain person to such an extent that he could only 
recognize him as a personal and a bitter enemy. The ciuestion arose 
whether that person should be nominated to the Senate or not for a 
position. I knew all the circumstances, and said to Gen. Grant: 
' What are you going to do about it? ' 'Do about it? ' he repeated, 
' I will send his name to the Senate. He has deserved his appoint- 
ment by his services to his country, and no personal ill feeling on 
my part siiall prevent his obtaining what he deserves.' He sat down 
and signed the nomination, and it was sent to the Senate at once. 

" When Gen. Grant has been a visitor ut my house, children 
would overwhelm him with requests for his autograph. Often when 
he would return home late at night from some reception, tired and 
sleepy, on his table would be a pile of autograph albums a foot or 
two high. Mrs. Beale would say: 'Come, General, it is time to 
retire. You are tired and need rest. Don't stop to write in those 
books to-night, but wait till morning.' 

' No,' Gen. Grant would reply, ' I'll do it to-night. These books 
belong to little children, and they will stop for them on their waj' to 
school in the morning, and I don't want to disappoint them; " and he 
would write in every one. " 



20 
GEN. GRANT AT LONG BRANCH. 



In speaking of Gen. Grant at Long Brancli, au old intimate friend 
said to a New York Times reporter : 

"He was always the simple republican citizen. I well remember 
riding along the bluff one evening with an English gentleman who 
had recently arrived in ximerica, and was not too supercillious to 
take a lively interest in his surroundings. As we bowled along the 
level drive I saw a dark bay horse, with a long, swinging gait, 
approaching with a light top wagon behind him. In the wagon sat 
a square, sturdily built. man, whose air of set determination would 
have struck the most casual observer. He wore a plain suit of black 
and a rusty silk hat. He held the lines loosely in one hand, and ap- 
peared to be enjoying the fresh southerly sea breeze. I turned to my 
English friend and said : 

•' Here comes the President." 

" President of what? " he inquired. 

" President of the United States," I answered. 

" What; that gentlemen — alone — in a buggy! God bless my .<;oul." 

" He took a good, long look at Gen. Grant, and then, turning to 
me said very earnestly: 

"My boy, you live in a wonderful country, and you have wonder- 
ful men, but you may hang me if I expected to see a great hero, 
whom the people had raised to the highest position in the country, 
riding about in a buggy, and driving his own horse-" 

"Grant always drove about the Branch in a buggy. I don't think 
he was ever seen in any other kind of a conveyance. He was usual- 
ly accompanied by his son Jessie, and he had a horse that would get 
him home in a hurry if a storm blew up. Mrs. Grant used to ride 
in a large carriage, which at one time was drawn by four horses, 
but that was when four-in-hands where as common here as tandems 
are now. 

" The General was also fond of horseback riding. His old skill, 
acquired at West Point never deserted him. He had a beautiful 
iron-gray colt when he first came here. If I remember correctly, the 
animal was bred on his farm out West. He used to go out every 
morning before breakfast upon this horse, and taught him all the 
gaits usually taught to thoroughbred Kentucky saddle horses. 
When he first began to ride the colt the animal was naturally frisky, 
but the General sat him as if he were part of the horse." 



21 

THE HERO AS A MAN AND GENTLEMAN. 



AN EPISODE OK THE NUillT EXI'KESS FKOM NEW V()I!K TO 
WASITINdTON. 



After the war was over, a few months after the siurender of Lee 

to Grant, in the early clays of President Johnson's administration, 

a prominent Southern gentleman who had been compelled by the 

irresistible foice of circumstances to give an unwilling adherence to 

the " lost cause" and had lost everything in consequence, was going 

with two lady relatives from New York to Washington on urgent 

~x personal business by the express train that left New York at night. 

The gentleman had not thought it necessary to engage sleeping ac- 

commodiition for his ladies in advance, taking it for granted he could 

obtain them on the train; but to bis disappointment he found tliat he 

had miscalculated. Every sleeping berth or apartment in the sleei)ing 

, car had been taken, and although he made all sorts of offers to buy 

".\ berths or apartments at a premium, no one was willing to sell. 

To render the matter worse, the ladies were worn out with 
fati"'ue, and serious consequences to at least one of them were likely 
to ensue if she was deprived of another night's needed rest. But 
there seemed to be no help for-it, and, with positive sadness in his 
face and heart, the gentleman was compelled to announce to the two 
ladies (who were still lingering in one of the sleeping cars, hoping 
airainst hope) that they would have to sit up all the way through to 
Washington. 

The ladies sighed, and then to their infinite surprise a gentleman 
who had been sitting quietly near them, apparently taking no notice 
of anybody or anything, thougli really hearing and seeing every- 
tiiing, arose and addressed their gentleman escort: 

" I see you have some ladies with you, sir," said the stranger, 
"and as I have a section of this car at my command, I would feel 
honored if your ladies would accept it." 

Needless to say, this most unexpectedly kind offer was received by 
the tired ladies with gratitude and enthusiasm. The stranger mod- 
^' estly waived all claim to such demonstrations, and, after the neces- 
sary preliminaries of the transfer, was about, with a bow, to leave 
the astonished group, when the Southern gentleman stopped him, 
and, shaking him by the hand, warmly insisted upon knowing to 



22 

whom he and his were indebted for such, under the circumstances, 
chivah'ous politeness. 

The stranger tried to avoid giving his name, but tinding the grate- 
ful Southerner Avould not be satisfied, he said simply: " My name is 
Grant." 

The Southerner, still more astonished, looked at the stranger more 
closely than before. Yes, the calm, half-stern, half-genial face, the 
square head, the steadfast eyes, were those of the generous conqueror 
at Appomattox Court House, by this time familiar to the country. 
North and South. 

"You are General Ulysses S. Grant, are you not, sir?" asked the 
Southerner of the stranger. 

" I am," the stranger simply replied, and then made another effort 
to pass on. But he was again prevented, this time by the ladies as 
well as their escort. 

"But, General," said the escort, "I am a Southern man, and as 
yet," he added, jokingly, " only partially 'reconstructed.'" 

" Then, in that case, I am all the more happy," said Grant, " to 
think that it has been in my power to render you and yours a little 
service." And with a pleasant bow to the man and a genial smile to 
the two ladies, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the United 
States, the leading military man of his time, passed on and away, and 
probably passed the weary night in the smoking-car. 

It was a little thing, but it showed the man as he was — modest, 
chivalric to women, kindly to the South, a thorough gentleman; and 
to-day U. S. Grant has no sincerer mourner than the lady, the only 
one now alive of the three, whom he that night on that train to 
Washington obliged. — Sunday Mercury. 



GRANTS APPRECIATION OF SHERIDAN. 



In 1875 Grant attended a centennial celebration at Concord, Mass., 
and on his return to New York passed through this city. For four 
hours three Hartford gentlemen rode in his company in a compart- 
ment of a drawing-room car, and during the ride he occupied the 
greater portion of the time in conversation, greatly to the surprise of 
one or two of his companions who had accepted his usual reticence 
as a common and uniform habit. But he went on in this talk and 
spoke of himself, modestly, and of the way in which the responsi- 



23 

hilities of tlie war i;n\v upon him. He fell llicm niucli Ics.s tliiiu 
might naturally be supposed He had relief and great help in his 
always trustworthy chief military subordinates, of wiiom he spoke 
in terms of the highest jiraise, Kefcrring to several of them by 
name, and especially to Sherman, for whom he bore a strong per. 
sonal affection, anil to Sheridan, he said with emphasis: "I con- 
sider Phil Slu-ridan the greatest captnin of the age!" A.nd, as if to 
show how complete his contidenee in him was, it being impossible 
for him to show his own estimate by anj- ordinary manner of speech, 
be used this striking and extravagant illustration : "If Sheridan had 
been in Von Moltke's place in the Franco-Prussian war he could 
have dictated terms to the French Army without moving on the 
French border and without leaving Berlin. — Ilaitford Times. 



AN INCIDENT AT SHI Loll. 



Major W. H. Chamberliu was an officer cf the Eighty-llrst Ohio 
\oluQteer Infantry, and served with Gen. Grant during the wiiole 
of the campaign of 1863. Majoi- Chamberlin tells a story of the 
General which lias a peculiar significance in that it gives a key to 
his mode of action. "It was on the second day of the battle of 
Shiloh," said the Major in speaking of the circumstance to the 
Ti men- Star. "The first da}', you know, had been disastrous to our 
forces, which had been driven back. Early in the morning of the 
second day Gen. Grant rode through our lines to the front, accom- 
panied by some officer, I do not know who. The two were having 
an animated conversation, and as they passed where I was standing 
I heard Gen. Grant remark: 'All the advantage is on the side of 
the attacking party.' Within a few minutes after they had passed 
me I heard the guns on our right open up, an order to advance was 
given, and the Union soldiers, who were compelled.to retire on the 
previous day, themselves a-sunied the aggressive and were victo- 
lious. That one remark of (Jen. Grant was significant of his whole 
career. He believed in attack rathei than defense, and Shiloh alone 
proved the correctness of his theory. "' 



24 
FACTS ABOUT GRANT. 

His favorite book, as a boy, was Cliarles O'Malley. 

One of his requests was that be should be allowed to sit up and 
not die in bed. 

His mother was an enthusiastic Methodist, and believed iu per- 
sonal holiness and the ne<\rness of the second comin<5. 

Among the portraits in George W. Childs' office is one of Gen. 
Grant and the Empeiorof China, taken .seated together and arm 
in arm. 

For several years he owned a house in Philadelphia, but he never 
occupied it. It was lust, witli all the rest of its effects, in the tinan 
cial crash. 

Until given over to the government, all the .souvenirs of his Euro- 
pean trip were at the office of George W. Childs, to whose custody 
he confided them. 

When a boy, if he ever went beyond a place, he never retraced 
his footsteps, but took a roundabout tour to reach the destination 
some other way. He often said he attributed his success to a reso- 
lution taken in youth, to "never turn back" in any undertaking. 

Gen. Grant smoked his last cigar on the 30th of November, 1884. 
In a letter to a friend mentionit-g the circumstances, he said he had 
.smoked many thousands of cigars, and they had been his greatest 
comfort through the last years of war on the battlefield. 

It is a curious coincidence that the fathers in-law of Gen. Grant's 
sons all suffered financial reverses, like himself. Fred. Grant 
married a daughter of Mr. Honore, of Chicago, once a millionaire. 
Buck Grant married a daughter of Senator Chaffee, of Colorado, 
who lost heavily. Jesse Grant married a daughter of Mr. Chapman, 
a former California Croesus. 



A DARK DAY. 



" The darkest day of my life," Gen. Grant once said to a friend, 
" was the day I heard of Lincoln's assassination. I did not know 
what it meant. Here was the rebellion put down in the field and 
starling up again in the gutters. We had fought it as war, now we 



25 

liad to fiiiht it as ass!x«.«ination. riinroln was killed on llio rvcninji 
of the 14lii of A|)ril. I was bus\- s{'n(lin<;j out orders to slop reniiit- 
iiiir, llie purchase of supplies, and lo muster out the army. Lincoln 
h:id promised to i^o to the the;itre, and wanted me to jjjo with him. 
While I was with tlie President a iu)tc came from Mrs. Grant, say- 
ina; that she must leave Washington that night She wanted to go 
to Burlington to sec her children. Some incident of a trifling nature 
had made her resolve to leave that evening. I was glail to have it 
so, as I did not want to go to the theatre. So I made my excuses to 
Lincoln, and at the proper hour we started for the train. As we 
were driving along Pennsylvania Avenue, a horseman drove past us 
on a gallop and back again around our carriage, looking into it. 
]Mrs. Grant said: ' There is the man who .sat near us at lunch to-day 
with some otiier men and tried to overhear our conversation. He 
was so rude that we left the dining room. Here he is now riding 
after us.' I thought it was only curiosity, but learned afterward 
that the horseman was Booth. It seems that I was to have been 
attacked, and Mrs. Grant's sudden resolve to leave changed the 
plans. A few days after I received an anonymous letter from a man 
saying that he had been detailed to kill me; that he rode on my train 
as far as Havre de Grace, and as my car was locked he failed to get 
in. He thanked God that he had failed. I remember that the 
conductor had locked our car, but how true the letter was I cannot 
say. I learned of the asi^assiuation as I was passing through Phila- 
delphia. I turned around, took a special train, and came on to 
Washington. It was the gloomiest day of my life." 



GEN. GRANT IN WASHINGTON. 



THK SIMPI.TCrTY OF IIIS IJFK THERE. 



Gen. Grant was the most conspicuous public man that ever lived in 
Washington. He was known to every man, woman and child in the 
district before his name was before the people for the Presidency. 
While General of the Army his headquarters vvere at the corner of 
Seventeenth and F streets. He used to walk to and fro morning and 
evening, along with the procession of clerks, and with nothing but 
his well-worn military cloak in winter, and the familiar figure in 



2G 

summer, and the cigar always, to distinguish liim from tlie crowd. 
He was usually absorbed in himself, and walked mechanically, 
thougii while going to work, very rapidly. While President he was 
the same sort of man. He loved a good iiorse dearly, and sometimes 
drove a four-in-hand drag, but he usually walked or took a street 
car. In either case he was always the cynosure of many curious 
eyes. He had evidently become accustomed to this, and paid no at- 
tention to it as long as people kept out of his way, or did not force 
themselves on his personal notice. When they did he was annoyed, 
and would turn abruptly on his heel to escape. He always acted on 
tlie street like any other private citizen wiio wanted to be let alone. 
This was so evident, that men, big and little, respected it, and the 
President of the United States could often be seen sauntering down 
the crowded aveuue alone. . 

He was known to have walked from the Capitol to the White 
House on a plea.sant day, when the whole city was out, without suf- 
fering a single interruption. Yet if he saw men raise their liats to 
him he never failed to return the salute. During such a walk nearly 
everybody would stare and turn and stare again at him as he passed. 
He .seemed to walk among crowds to be alone. Of late years he had 
apparently shaken off much of this taciturnity, and when he visited 
Washington could be seen about the Willard lobby chatting with 
friends and listening and laughing at their stories, and telling stories 
of his own in return. He mistrusted those who wanted to make a 
show of him, but patiently suffered the tortures of boredom at the 
greatest receptions ever given at the White House. When he took a 
notion to attend a dinner party, he went, without regard to the cus- 
tomary etiquette of the White House, which prohibits the President 
from indulging in such thmg>i.— Philadelphia Times. 

Gen. Grant's Christian faith was simple, yet sturdy. It combined 
cliildlike trustfulness with the intellectual vigor of manhood's con- 
viction. While never making display of that side of his nature, it 
was the habit of his life to look to Divine guidance in all of his un- 
dertakings, and he attributed "his successes to the inspiration gath- 
ered therefrom. Mor was his faith shaken by reverses, although 
often in the family circle and with his closest friends he expressed 
the wish that he was stronger in his reliance. Rev. Dr. Newman 
says: "I became his pastor in 1869. I have been his guest many 
times. And at all times, in the White House at Washington or at 
his cottage in Long Branch, he always had family prayers, in which 



27 

he iisuiilly requested me to lead. I called at the White House ou 
his last Sunday there — his last night in office. Mr. Hayes was then 
havinir a reception at John Sherniau's. 1 found the General and 
ilrs. Grant, with >Ir. and Mrs. Sartoris, quietly silting in the Blue 
Kooni. We talked a while. Then at the General's request we all 
knelt in prayer." 

Rev. Dr. Newman says of Gen. Grant: "Once I asked him, I re- 
memher, what he considered his most providential experience. 
Without hesitation he said: 

"My resignation from tlie army in 1854. I was then a captain. 
U I had stayed in the army I would have been still a captain on 
frontier duty* at the outbreak of the war and would thus have been 
deprived of the right to offer my services voluntarily to the country. 
That opportunity shaped my future." 



GEN. GRANTS ESTIMATE OF LINCOLN, McGLEL- 
LAN, BISMARCK, NAPOLEON, ETC. ETC. 



[From John Russell Young's Around the World icith Gen. Grant.] 
I have no doubt that Lincoln Avill be the conspicuous tigure of the 
war, one of the great figures of histor}^ He was a great man, a very 
great man. Tlie more I savv of him the more this impressed me. 
lie was incontestably the greatest man I ever new. What marked 
him especially was his sincerity, his kindness, his clear insight into 
alfairs. Under all this,- he had a firm will and a clear policy. People 
used to say that Seward swayed him, or Chase or Stanton. This 
was a mistake. He might appear to go Seward's way one day, and 
Stanton's another, but all the time he was going his own course and 
tliey with him. It was tliat gentle firmness in carrying out his own 
will, without apparent force or friction, that formed the basis of his 
character. 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 

The tactics for which Jackson is famous and which achieved such 
remarkable results belonged entirely to the beginning of the war, 
and to the peculiar conditions under which the earlier battles were 
fought. They would have insured destruction to any commander 
who tried them upon Sherman, Sheridan, Meade, or in fact any of 
our great generals. Conseciuently Jack.son's fame as a general de- 
]K'nds upon achievements gained before his generalship was tested, 
l)efore he had a chance of matching hini.self with a really great com- 
mander. No dout)t, ,so able and patient a man as Jackson, who 
worked so hard at anything he attempted, would have adapted him- 
self to new conditions and risen with them. He died before his 
opportunity. I always respected Jackson, personally and esteenied 
his sincere and manly character, 



28 

BEGINNING OF THE WA1{. 

McCIpllan was then in Cincinnati in command. He liad been ap- 
pointed Major-General in the regular army. I was deiir;hted with 
the appointment. I knew McClellan and^ had great contidence in 
liim. I have, for that matt'T, ne%-er lost my respect for McClellan's 
character nor my confidence in his loyalty and ability. I saw in him 
the man who was to pilot us through, and I wanted to he on his 
stafl. I thought that if he would make me a major or a lieutenant- 
colonel I could be of use, and I wanted to be with him. So when I 
came to Cincinnati I went to the headquarters. Several of the staff 
officers were friends I had known in the army. I asked one of them 
if the General was in. I was told he had "just gone out and was 
asked to take a seat. Everybody was so busy that they could not 
say a word. I went over to make a visit to an old army friend, 
Reynolds, and while there, learned that Gov. Gates, of Illinois, had 
made me a colonel of volunteers. Still I should like to have joined 
McClellan. 

Pomp and ceremony was common at the beginning of the war. 
McClellan had three times as many men with quills behind their ears 
as I had ever fonnd necessary at the headquarters of a much larger 
command Fremont had as much state as a sovereign and was as 
ditficult to approach. His headquariers alone required as much 
transportation as a division of troops. I was under his command a 
part of the time and remember how imposing was his manner of 
doing bii-siness. He sat in a room in full uniform, with his maps 
before him. When you went in he would point out one line or 
another in a mysterious manner, never asking you to take a seat. 
You left without the slightest idea of what he meant or what he 
wanted j'ou to do. 



m'clellan. 
McClellan- is to me one of the mysteries of tlie war. Asa young 
man, he was always a mystery. He had the way of inspiring you 
with the idea of immense capacity if he would only have a chance. 
Then he is a man of unusual accomplishments, a student and a well- 
read man. I have never studied his campaigns enough to make up 
my mind as to his military skill, but all mj-lmpressions are in his 
favor. I have entire contidence in ]McClelfau"s loyalty and patriot- 
ism. But the test which was applied to him would be terrible to 
any man, being made a major-general at the beginning of the war. 
It has always seemed to nie that the critics of McClellan do not 
consider this vast and cruel responsibility — the war, a new thing 
to all of us, the army new, everything to do from the outset, with 
a restless people and Congress. McClellan was a young man when 
this devolved upon him, and if he did not succeed it was because 
the conditions of success were so trying. If McClellan had gone 
into the war as did Sherman, Thomas or Meade, had fought his way 
along and up, I have no reason to suppose he would not have now 
as high a distinction as any of us. 



29 

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 

The march to the sea was proposed by me iu a letter to Halleck 
before I left the Western army; mj' objective point was Mobile. It 
was not a siidrlen inspiralion, but a logical move in the uame. It 
was the ue.xt thing to be done. We had gone .so far into the South 
that we had to go to the .sea. We could not go anywhere else, for 
we were cert;iiidy not going back. The details of the march, the 
conduct, the whole glory belong to Sherman. I never thought 
much as to the origin of the idea. I presume it grew up iu corres- 
pondence Avith Sherman ; that is took shape as those things alwavs 
do. Sherman is a man with so many resources and a mind so 
fertile that once an idea takes root it grows rapidly. 



PLEASED WITH PEACE. 

I was never more delighted at anything than the close of the war. 
I never liked service iu the army — not as a young officer. I did not 
want to go to West Point. My appointment was an accident and 
my father had to use his authority to make me go. If I could have 
escaped West Point without biiuging mj'self into disgrace at home 
I would have done so. I remember about^ the timel entered the 
Academy there were debates in Congress over a proposal to abolish 
West Point I used to look over the papers and read the Congress 
reports with eagerness to see the progress the bill made, and hoping 
to hear that the school had been abolished, that I could go home 
to my lather without being in disgrace. I never went into a battle 
willingly or with enthusiasm. I was always glad when a battle was 
over. I never want to command another army. I take no interest 
in armies. When the Duke of Cambridge asked me to review his 
troops at Aldershot, I told his roj-ai Highness that the one thing I 
never wanted to see again was a military parade. When I resigned 
from the army and went to a farm I was happy. When the rebel- 
lion came I returned to the service because it was a duty. I had uo 
thouijht of rank; all I did was to try and make myself useful. 



BISMARCK AND GAMBETTA. 

Speaking of the notable men I have met in Europe, I regard 
Bismarck and Gambetta as the greatest. I .saw a good deal of 
Bismarck iu Berlin and later in Gastein, and had .a long talk with 
him. lie impresses you as a great man. Gambetta also impressed 
me greatly. I was not surprised when I met him, to see the power 
he wielded over France. 1 should not be surprised at any i)romin- 
ence he might attain in the future. 1 was very much pleased with 
the liepubiican leaders in Frani'e. They seemed a superior body of 
men. My relations with them gave me great hopes for the future of 
the republic. They were men apparently of sense, wisdom and 
moderation. 



30 



NAPOLEOX. 



I have always had an aversion to Napoleon and the whole family. 
When I was in Denmark the Prince Imperial was there, and stime 
one thought it might be pleai^ant tor me to meet him. I declined, 
saying I did not want to see him or any of his family. Of course, 
the first emperor was a great genius, but one of the most selfish and 
cruel men in history. Outside of his military skill, I do not see a 
redeeming trait in his character. He abused France for his own 
ends, and brought incredible disa^ters upon his own country to 
gratify his selfish ambition. I do not think any genius can excuse 
a crime like that. The third Napoleon was worsethan the first, the 
especial enemy of America and liberty. 



SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



WHY HE DID NOT BUY A UNIFORM AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 
WAR — THE WARD-FISH CONNECTION. 



Gen. Grant, like some other great commanders, never wore his 
uniform when he could avoid doingso. He records the fact himself 
that he apologized to Gen. Lee for receiving him at tlie surrender 
in a blouse and tattered felt hat, when according to usaare, he should 
have been attired in full uniform. Gen. Lee got out his best uniform 
for the occasion. Gen. Grant was in the service several months as a 
volunteer colonel before he got a uniform. He was called to Head- 
quarters in St. Louis by Gen. Fremont, and in his citizen's apparel, 
found It difficult to get the orderly to take his card to the august 
commanding General, and it is just possible that he would not have 
succeeded In seeing him at all, unless he made a domou.stration, had 
he not been recognized by a passing officer, who knew him in the 
old service, and who instructed the orderly to present the card at 
once to Gen. Fremont. The card simply bore the signature " U. S. 
Grant," written in pencil on a bit of pasteboard, han'ded him by the 
orderly. Gen. Fremont, who was always fully uniformed while on 
duty, and who observed all the pomp and dignit3-his situation would 
admit of, was surrounded by a gayly uniformed crowd of staff offi- 
cers, many of whom to this daj' remember his exclamation when he 
received the card, " U. S. Grant! I've been momentarily expecting 
him. Show him in at once." Col. Grant received an important 
command from the department commander, and was leaving when 
the latter asked: •' Why are you not in uniform? " " Not thinking 
the war will last long, or amount to much, I have uot got one for 
myself," replied Col. Grant, whereupon Fremont insisted he should 
get a uniform without delay, and indeed sent an aide with him to a 
particular tailor, and Avould not let him leave until it had Ijeen 
finished. 

This uniform lasted Gen. Grant throughout the war, being properly 



31 

altered as to buttons ami bullion with each promotion. Like other 
public men Gen. (irant was very careless with his hats, and j^ener- 
ally wore a shockini,dy neirlected silk hat. lie iirelerred a soft felt 
hat, bnt tliouiiht it niii;iit t)e considered atfectaiion to wear one. and 
contenteil himself with the conventional hi<!;h hat, wliicdi was seldom 
in the fashion, lie thouiihl a man in a <;ood tittinu; frock coat 
looked every inch a ^entlemau, but never liked the dress suit, and 
avoided all "dinners where he had to wear one. He always wore 
boots, and was very particular about havinp; a jrood shine. 

All men have their ]ier.sonal vanities, and Gen. Grant's greatest 
weakness in his latter life was to be considered a business man. It 
flatterel his vanity, perhaps unconsciously, to be considered an ac- 
tive member of his firm of Grant iV: Ward, and he wa'* as reirular 
in attendance and as methodic in his manner of jroing to and from 
the office and in observing business hours, as any clerk in the street. 
He generally walked down from his house and took the Si.xth av- 
enue elevated either at Fifty ninth -street or Fort\'-.second street, the 
same hour to the minute. He uenerall}' met on the train Jav Gcmld, 
Cyrus W. Field, the Seliirmans and other i)rominent business men, 
and he would evince evident ]iride in the consciousness of his being 
a business man. Once he observed to Jay Gould: " We business 
men are machines, after all."' He passed bis time in the office smok- 
inir and chatting. He probably thought be had an insight in the 
l)usiness, and was conscientiously di.scharging his self-assumed 
duties, and believed he knew what he was talking about when he 
wrote Fish that he understood the business and was watching over 
the youngsters. In the army he accepted and believed the reports 
of his subordinates, and so now he believed the statements of his 
partner and friend, Ferdinand Ward. Any one who conversed 
with Gen. Grant, in those days can testify that he showed himself 
thoroughly familiar with the ratnificatious of the market, and prob- 
ably m legitimate speculation would have been much abler than the 
scheming Ward. He had great faith in Ward, and alwa}'s defended 
him in his official association. He never ventured in Ward's famous 
"private othce," but always pointed to it with respect. At 3 o'clock 
he always left the office and took the Sixth avenue elevated to 
Twenty-third street and then he would walk home, after stopping 
in the Fifth avenue Hotel to make a call on .some friend. 
[ There was never much companionship between Gen. Grant and 
Fish, as he was inclined to consider the latter rather gay, but Ward 
frequently joined the home circle in the evening and indulged in 
the usual game of cards. One reason why Grant liked Ward be- 
sides his admiration for his tinancial abilities was that his early re- 
ligious training caused him to object to off-color stories, and it is 
well-known that Grant never told such, nor allowed any to be told 
in his presence if he could prevent it. Men who revelled in .such 
stories never dared tell them in the othce of Grant & Ward in the 
presence of the General, who to improve his knowledge of business 
was eager to talk about the market and the situation to any and all, 
and as a consequence he was got "on a string" for fun. — World. 



32 

GRANTS LETTER ON HTS WANING LIFE. 



The following rciiuirkable document was written by Gen. Grant 
in i)r. Douglas's presence on July 2 : 

" I ask you not to show this to anyone, unless the physicians 
you consult with, until the end. Particularly, I want it kept from 
my family. If known to one man the papers will get it and they 
(the family) will get it. It would only distress them almost beyond 
endurance to know it, and. by reflex would distress me. I have not 
changed my mind materially since I wrote you before in the same 
strain. Now, however, I know that I gain strength some days, but 
when I go back it is beyond where I started to improve. I think 
the chances are very decidedly in favor of your being able to keep 
me alive imtil the change of weather towards winter. Of course 
there are contengencies that might arise at any time that would 
carry me off suddenly. The most probable of those is choking. 
Under the circumstances life is not worth the living.' I am very 
thankful (for thankful, glad was written, but scratched out and 
thankful substituted) to liave been spared this long, because it has 
enabled me to practically complete the work in which I take so 
much interest. 1 cannot stir up strengtli enough to review it and 
make additions and subtractions that v/ould suggest themselves to 
me and are not likely to suggest themselves to any one else. Under 
the above circumstances, I Will be the happie-t, the most pain T can 
avoid. If there is to be any extraordinary cure, such as some people 
believe there is to be, it will develop itself. I would say, tlierefore, 
to you and your colleagues, to make me as comfortable as you can. 
If it is within God's providence that 1 should go now, I am ready to 
obey his call without a murmur. I should prefer going now to en- 
during my present suffering for a single day without hope of re- 
covery. As I have stated, I' am thankful for the providential exten- 
sion of my time to enable me to continue my work. I am further 
thankful, and in a much greater degfee thankful, because it has en- 
abled me to see for myself the happy harmony which so suddenly 
sprung up between those engaged but a few short years ago in deadly 
conflict. It has been an inestimable blessing to me to hear the kind 
expression towards me in person from all parts of our country, from 
people of all nationalities, of all religions and of no religion, of Con- 
federates and of 'National troops alike, of soldiers' organizations, of 
mechanical, scientific, religious and other societies, embracing 
almost every citizen in the land. They have broniiht joy to my 
heart, if they have not effected a cure. " So to you and your col- 
leagues I acknowledge my indebtedness for having brought me 
through the valley of the shadow of death to enable me to witness 
these things. 

"U. S. Grant." 

"Mt. McGregor, N. Y., July 2, 1885." 



